Tag: drought

Not a day goes by without the mention of the word drought in California. At this point, everyone understands how serious the problem is, and what steps need to be taken to help.

Yes, we need to save water, but more important, we need to use water wisely, and that means watering your trees to keep them alive.

Frequently you hear people talking about the evils of landscaping. In most cases, they’re right. Bright green lawns serve no purpose aside from aesthetics. Places to play? Theoretically, but outside of the 4th of July, I can’t ever remember seeing a neighbor play in their front lawn. Click to read more!

This week, the Fresno Bee reported that the massive Westlake sprawl project has been put on hold – for at least a decade. The news came as a great surprise because last December the developer, Granville, began mobilizing bulldozers to flatten the land.

Developer Darius Assemi, president of Granville Homes, said the timing isn’t right for his Westlake development, which lies beyond Fresno’s city limits. The cost to build is too high and he’s waiting to see the city of Fresno’s growth plan for the area before moving ahead with the project.Click to read more!

This country has a serious problem with planning for the future, and the lack of forward thinking is no clearer than in Fresno.

If you’ve read the Bee over the past few months, you’ve been hit over and over again in the head with two major themes:

-California is in the middle of a serious drought
-Air quality is worse now than it’s been in years

The two are linked of course, and are the result of long-term weather patterns; the same system that is keeping the rain away is stagnating the air. The problem is that many local planning decisions can help alleviate these concerns, but instead, local government turns a blind eye and makes it worse.Click to read more!

The Fresno Bee has published their article on the subject, including some good pictures of the site. That article can be read here.

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In 2005, Granville proposed a giant exurban residential development west of Fresno.

Now they’re making moves to actually build it.

They’re calling it Westlake, and they want to use 430 acres to build 2,600 new homes….and a giant lake. In typical Granville fashion, they want to do this in the middle of nowhere, far from jobs, businesses, and entertainment. Well, not nowhere – the area has plenty of productive farms.Click to read more!